Sweater



April 23, 1968 J. M. HARTER SWEATER Filed Nov. 30, 1964 FIG. 3

INVENT OR.

JEAN M. HARTER FIG.

ATTORNEY United States Patent 01 dice 3,378,852 Patented Apr. 23, 1968 3,378,852 SWEATER Jean M. Hatter, 604 S. 7th St., Goshen, Ind. 46526 Filed Nov. 30, 1964, Ser. No. 414,645 2 Claims. (Cl. 2-90) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A knitted garment having ornamental portions such as stripes sewed thereon, the stripes being of knitted construction stretchable in all directions so that they form a basic part of the garment and stretch therewith.

Sweaters and other similar knitted wearing apparel have often been made with stripes and other decorative patterns woven or knitted into the sweater during the garment knitting operation. The operation of knitting a decorative pattern into the garment requires relatively expensive knitting machines and involves time-consuming operations, and does not lend itself to a wide variety of patterns without making substantial and often dihicult to make changes in th knitting program. Various attempts have been made to avoid the use of expensive and complicated knitting machinery and procedures, such as sewing or otherwise attaching separate pieces with the desired pattern to the pre-knitted garment. In the past, this practice has resulted in a garment which will not stretch uniformly in all directions and in which the design does not appear to be an integral part of the original knitted garment. It is therefore one of the principal objects of the present invention to provide a garment such as a sweater having a knitted body or basic garment portion of a single color or pattern, and having thereon stripes or other decorative or ornamental designs which will stretch uniformly in all directions along with the knitted body or basic portion of the garment, and which is permanently attached to and is as durable as the body or basic portion of the garment.

Another object of the invention is to provide a knitted garment such as a sweater having multi-color patterns or designs which can be manufactured on relatively simple machines and knitting operations and which lends itself to a large variety of different designs and ornamentations.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a fully knitted multi-color design produced from fast-color yarn, wherein the design or decoration consists of knitted material, stretchable in all directions and permanently attached to the garment in such a manner that it does not interfere with the uniform and universal stretchability of the body or basic portion of the garment.

A further object is to provide a sweater or similar knitted garment construction of the aforementioned type which can be easily and readily manufactured in a variety of different colors and patterns, and which can readily be changed from one design to another without disturbing the knitting machinery or program for making the basic garment and decorative material.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a sweater embodying the present construction and illustrating one form of the inventive concept;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of the sweater shown in FIGURE 1, showing more clearly the construction of the garment; and

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary cross sectional view of the garment shown in FIGURE 1, the section bein g taken on line 3-3 of FIGURE 2.

Referring more specifically to the drawing, numeral 10 designates a sweater having the usual neck or collar portion 12, sleeves 14 and 16, and waistband 18. The body portion, including the collar, sleeves and waistband, is knitted in one continuous operation so that the basic garment is of one-piece construction and of a single color and will stretch substantially uniformly in all directions. The particular knitting stitch and design and shape of the basic or body portion of the garment are not important to the present invention so long as the construction is such that the garment will stretch easily and uniformly in all directions.

An enlarged section of the body or basic portion 20 shows more effectively the knitting stitch. In order to give the garment an ornamental pattern or design, a strip 22, for example, is attached to the basic portion 20 and consists of a knitted material, preferably of a finer knit than the basic material 20. This ornamental strip is knitted in preferably the same stitch as the basic garment and will stretch uniformly in all directions, preferably to the same extent and in the same manner as the basic portion of the garment. The strip is sewed by any suitable stitch 24 and 26 along the longitudinal margins thereof, in such a manner that it will not interfere with th stretchability of either the basic portion 20 or the strip 22 after the latter has been firmly secured to the basic portion. The strip is attached to the garment by stitching 24 and 26, and when attached appears to be an integral part of the basic portion, so that the appearance of the strip on the basic portion is substantially indistinguishable from a strip woven directly into the basic portion by the conventional methods.

One of the advantages of the foregoing garment construction is the fact that a single or several basic garment portions can be made in volume, and then later, in fulfilling orders, the decorative strip of any suitable color or design can be sewed onto the basic portion. Thus, an expensive inventory of a large variety of garments is reduced, and orders can be filled much more rapidly than where the garment must be specially knitted for each individual order or requirement. The present construction lends itself to a large variety of different designs other than stripes, and a large variation in the color of the designs.

While only one embodiment of the invention has been described in detail herein, various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A sweater or similar knitted garment, comprising a basic body portion of knitted construction stretchable in all directions and being of a single color and having shoulder portions, sleeves, collar and waistband all knitted as an integral part of the body portion, stripes extending in a generally vertical position along both sides of said body portion, said stripes being of a material of the same type of knitted stitch as, but finer than, the stitch of the basic body portion and stretchable in all directions to substantially the same extent and in the same manner as said body portion, and stitch means along each edge of said stripes securing said stripes to said body portion in such a manner that said body portion and said stripes will stretch uniformly and fully in all directions, thus forming stripes having the characteristics of stripes knitted integraliy With said body portion.

2. A sweater or similar knitted garment as defined in claim 1 in which said stripes are of thinner material than the material of said basic body portion.

4 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,431,736 10/1922 Garwitt 290 2,072,050 2/1937 Sharps 2-90 2,782,619 2/1957 Bialostok 2--90 RICHARD J. SCANLAN, JR., Primary Examiner. 

